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January 15, 2008
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award is presented
to a deserving recipient on the day before the last
college hockey game of the season. But that doesn’t
mean that college hockey fans, players and media members
don’t think about it all season. Inside College
Hockey's Hobey Tracker looks at the top three candidates
for the award, those whose stock is rising or falling,
and other players worthy of consideration.
The Hobey Tracker will be updated every
other Wednesday morning during the first half of the
season, and every Wedneday morning during the second
half of the season.
| THE
BIG BOARD |
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1.
Nathan Gerbe
Boston College
Junior | Forward |
To
Date: 18-16—34, 7 PPG, +15
The Buzz: Having a sidekick like
Brock Bradford certainly helps your cause. Bradford,
who returned to the Eagles' lineup last week after
breaking his left arm in an Oct. 12 loss to Michigan,
scored three goals over his first two games, allowing
Gerbe to pile up 2-3—5 in BC's sweep of
visiting Vermont.
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2.
Kevin Porter
Michigan
Senior | Forward |
To
Date: 20-17—37, 11 PPG, +18
The Buzz: Having a sidekick like
Chad Kolarik certainly helps your cause. Kolarik,
a teammate of Porter's with the U.S. NTDP and
a fellow Phoenix Coyotes draft pick, scored five
goals in Michigan's sweep of Western Michigan,
allowing Porter to pile up 1-5--6 in the process.
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3.
Ryan Lasch
St. Cloud State
Soph. | Forward |
To
Date: 17-17—34, 8 PPG, -3
The Buzz: Having a Hobey-worthy
teammate on a different line can hurt your cause.
Lasch, who recorded a pair of assists in the Huskies'
win and tie against Minnesota last weekend, took
a backseat to the heroics of freshman Garrett
Roe, who scored four goals in the series against
the Gophers. |
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| BULL
MARKET |
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James van Riemsdyk
New Hampshire
Freshman
Forward
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Keeping
with the theme used above, freshman phenom James
van Riemsdyk made a return to the lineup and New
Hampshire responded with a pair of crucial Hockey
East wins over nationally-ranked Massachusetts.
van Riemsdyk's return was only part of the benefit,
as Mike Radja also got back into the mix for those
victories over the Minutemen, one week after losing
a non-league game at home against St. Lawrence.
van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist in each win
over UMass and comes back to the college hockey
world after a very strong showing at the World Junior
Championship. |
| BEAR
MARKET |
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Peter
Mannino
Denver
Senior
Goalie
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Surely,
some people have wondered why Peter Mannino hasn't
been mentioned in our most recent Hobey Trackers,
and those people probably won't be pleased to see
his name in this category. It's not an especially
strong goaltending class this year, making it possible
for Mannino to be among the 10 finalists for the
award. But Ryan Miller's spectacular statistics
during his Hobey-winning season of 2000-01 has raised
the bar for goalies hoping to win the Hobey. Mannino
has allowed 10 goals in his last three games, including
five over a span of 38 minutes in last week's loss
to Wisconsin. |
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HIDDEN
HOBEY |
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Bryan
Marshall
Nebraska-Omaha
Senior
Forward
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Despite
107 points in 117 games during his first three seasons
with the Mavericks, Marshall quietly played in the
shadow of forward Scott Parse. The Livonia, Mich.
native has emerged this season, however, leading
the nation in assists (25) and in a three-way tie
with Gerbe and Lasch for second in the country in
points (34). Marshall enters UNO's weekend series
at Alaska with an 11-game scoring streak and at
least one point in 15 of the Mavs' last 16 contests.
His relatively low goal total (nine in 24 games)
may hamper his Hobey candidacy, but Marshall is
easily on a pace to eclipse his previous single-season
benchmark of 13 goals he set as a freshman. |
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